Around The World

An Afghan police officer and cook poisoned their colleagues at a checkpoint in an assault coordinated with insurgent fighters that left six dead in the country’s south, officials said Saturday.

It was the latest in a string of attacks from inside the Afghan army and police that are threatening to undermine both the partnership with international troops — which have been the target of many attacks — and the morale of Afghan forces, who have suffered equally heavy casualties from such strikes.

The police officer and the cook worked with outside insurgents in the assault, which hit police manning a checkpoint in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, the governor’s office said in a statement.

They poisoned two of the officers and then the militants attacked from outside, killing the remaining four officers, provincial spokesman Ahmad Zirak said. He did not say how the officers were poisoned. The police officer was captured as he fled, but the cook escaped and remains at large, Zirak added.

PARIS

A correspondent for France 24 TV was “savagely attacked” near Cairo’s Tahrir Square after being seized by a crowd, the network said Saturday. It was the latest case of violence against women at the epicenter of Egypt’s restive protests.

The news channel said in a statement that Sonia Dridi was attacked around 10:30 p.m. Friday after a live broadcast on a protest at the square and was later rescued by a colleague and other witnesses. France 24 did not give further details about the attack, but it said its employees were safe and sound, though “extremely shocked,” and that it will file suit against unspecified assailants.

The network, which receives state funds but has editorial independence, said it and the French Embassy were working to bring Dridi back to France.

KUWAIT CITY

Kuwait’s government on Saturday set parliamentary elections for Dec. 1 in a bid to ease months of deepening political turmoil that has pit the pro-Western ruling family against opposition forces led by Islamists.

The elections — which will be the second this year in the oil-rich Gulf nation — will be held under voting district demarcations that appeared to favor the Islamists and allies in the last balloting in February.

Another opposition victory would put further pressure on Kuwait’s ruling family to loosen its control over key government positions and impose more conservative rules such as banning cultural events considered offensive to Islamic values.